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Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (Royal Institute of Technology), KTH, in Stockholm, Sweden is a technical university with education and research. It provides one-third of Sweden’s capacity for engineering studies and technical research at post-secondary level. KTH has about 12.000 students and 3.000 employees and there are about 1.500 active post-graduate students.

Applied Electrochemistry is part of the School of Chemical Science and Engineering, KTH

The research at Applied Electrochemistry, involving about 20 persons, is directed towards electrolytic processes and electrochemical power sources within the field of electrochemical engineering. At present the following research projects are running: The molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), lithium-polymer and Zebra batteries, controlled delamination materials, smart windows, electrodes in the chlorate process. A common theme in different research projects is the development and application of porous electrode theories for battery electrodes and gas diffusion fuel cells electrodes. Experimental studies of electrode kinetics and mass transfer to electrode surfaces are other important and frequent activities in the research programme.

At Applied electrochemistry the work on high temperature fuel cells started in 1989 with research on molten carbonate fuel cells.Ever since then performance and modelling of the different components in the fuel cell have been in focus of the research. The group is well equipped with modern instruments for electrochemical experiments. There is a special MCFC laboratory equipped with two complete laboratory fuel cells of 3 cm2 geometric area and four ovens available for half cell experiments etc.

Regarding MCFC activities the group has been involved in four projects funded by the European Commission (1994-2005), in which materials for use in molten carbonate fuel cells have been investigated. The group has also participated in an international co-operation on MCFC research between eight universities (three in Japan, one in USA and four in Europe) funded by NEDO, Japan. Since several years the group collaborates with Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Paris (ENSCP), France, and with CRIEPI, Japan.

Recently the group has also turned into the field of solid oxide fuel cells. In collaboration with ENSCP, France, carbonate/oxide composites as electrolyte material in IT-SOFC are studied. In another national activity the group is involved in the evaluation of a SOFC system operated by ABB Corporate Research and others.

In the MCFC-CONTEX project KTH will mainly contribute with experimental studies of the different cell components when being exposed to possible contaminants present in anode and cathode gases. The studies will include common electrochemical techniques as polarisation curves and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The feasibility of using accelerated testing methods when investigating the effects of the contaminants is another important issue that will be investigated.